five journalists have been killed after an israeli strike outside a hospital in central gaza, according to local health authorities. authorities in south—eastern australia tell people in dozens of rural communities to leave their homes "immediately" to escape a bushfire. boxing day sales begin today but the doors to some of the uk's largest retailers will remain closed. however — online sales are expected to rise. commemorations have been taking place in countries across the indian ocean to mark the 20th anniversary of the catastrophic tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people.

a vigil was held in banda aceh on the island of sumatra, close to the epicentre of the huge underwater earthquake that triggered the tsunami. 0ur south—east asia correspondent jonathan head, who witnessed the devastation in 2004, sent this report. siren. the chilling wail of the warning sirens this morning in banda aceh, in northern indonesia, marking the moment when the city was almost completely wiped out by the biggest tsunami of modern times. a frightening reminder for survivors is also a reassurance that today they are better prepared. in thailand, they hung photographs of those who died on the tiled memorial, which reaches the height of the wave which smashed into the beaches on that boxing day morning. most of the 151 british victims died here.

translation: i feel dismay. it's been 20 years. i came here every day. time flies, but it passes slowly in our minds. screaming. few understood what was happening back then, as they watched the lethal torrent of water roar in. there had been no warnings. thailand, like sri lanka, was a long way from the massive earthquake which sent the wave racing across the indian ocean. over here in this building, well, at the moment... for those of us reporting the tsunami, it was like nothing we had experienced before. arriving on phi phi island in thailand, i watched them pull body after body — most of them tourists still in their colourful beachwear — from under the rubble. 1,300 had died on this small island in a matter of minutes. the destruction i witnessed in indonesia was on an almost

unimaginable scale. scenes of death and grief which remain burnt into my memory. yet the survivors rebuilt and recovered, sometimes from communities of which only fragments remained, leaving, here and there, monuments to that dreadful day. and carrying the hard lessons learned on what to do, should they hear the sirens, part of a now greatly improved warning system, go off. jonathan head, bbc news, bangkok. richard de gottal — a survivor of the indian ocean tsunami, shared his memories of that time. first of all, i just want to say my heartfelt condolences to everyone that lost someone in the tsunami. i was very fortunate and lucky. i was staying in a hotel right on the seafront of patong beach, which was hit by the tsunami. i mean, destroyed by the tsunami. so i was a little bit, being at christmas day night, and i was sleeping, and then there was a lot of banging on the door like bang, bang,

bang, bang, bang, bang! and i could hear screaming and shouting. i was like, "oh, i can't, i can't get out of bed. "i'm just going to go to sleep." and then there was like a massive roar and a bang. and that was the tsunami smashing into the seafront and the hotel. and i was like, "what's that noise?" i didn't have no idea what it was. and then i sort of, i thought, "well, i've got to get up now "and see what's happening." and there was no, no light, no electric. and i was like, open the door to my room that was looking over into the reception. and it was like a bomb. it was just everything was destroyed. there was cars, there was water. there was just there was people dead, like floating in the water. and it was just a scene of... it was just devastating. like, i thought a bomb had actually gone off when i opened the door. and i managed to get down to like the seafront and all the patong seafront, all the restaurants, everything was just all destroyed. and then i was walking in the water and it was just... ijust did not happen. they were saying, "0h, tsunami, a tsunami has come. you've got to get to safe ground, you've got to get higher, you've got to get away from the area."

so i sort of made my way through all the hotel, managed to get my passport and my money, and then made my way to a safer part of the island. so and then i sort of stayed for a few days. we helped with the clear up operation. we went to khao lak, which was really badly hit, like took supplies up there and water. so i helped out for the rest of my holidays helping out with the clear up operation. the authorities in south—eastern australia have told people in dozens of rural communities to leave their homes "immediately" to escape a bushfire. about 600 firefighters — according to the victoria state emergency services — are trying to control the blaze in the grampians national park. the fire has been burning for a week, and has consumed about 500 square kilometres of forested land. let's speak to victoria state response controller garry cook. thank you for taking the time to talk to us. tell us about this latest warning for people

in rural communities to evacuate. in rural communities to evacuate-— in rural communities to evacuate. . , evacuate. that is right, some ofthe evacuate. that is right, some of the communities _ evacuate. that is right, some of the communities around i evacuate. that is right, some l of the communities around the fire and further out in where the path of the fire may spread to, particularly in the evening, we are expecting a strong westerly wind to push on to the eastern edge of that fire. communities to the east of where the fire is burning have been warned about that and are taking action appropriate to them. ., . . , to them. how challenging is this to get _ to them. how challenging is this to get under _ to them. how challenging is this to get under control - to them. how challenging is i this to get under control given the temperatures you are experiencing?— the temperatures you are experiencing? the temperatures you are ex-ueriencin? , ., , experiencing? very hot day but it is cooling _ experiencing? very hot day but it is cooling off— experiencing? very hot day but it is cooling off now, _ experiencing? very hot day but it is cooling off now, the - it is cooling off now, the humidity is going up and that makes it more favourable for firefighters. it is now dark so aircraft that support firefighters are now on the ground. there is a challenge well this westerly wind come through but we have had a successful day, it could have been a lot worse than it has been. we are still not out of

the woods. been. we are still not out of the woode— been. we are still not out of the woods. ~ . , ., ., ~' the woods. we have been looking at pictures _ the woods. we have been looking at pictures of— the woods. we have been looking at pictures of helicopters - at pictures of helicopters going over the fires and dumping water and other chemicals on the fires. tell us about the techniques you are using to get this under control. it using to get this under control-— using to get this under control. , ., , ., ., ., control. it is a combination of the aircraft — control. it is a combination of the aircraft and _ control. it is a combination of the aircraft and we _ control. it is a combination of the aircraft and we had - control. it is a combination of the aircraft and we had over. control. it is a combination of. the aircraft and we had over 70 aircraft available in victoria for firefighting operations, not all on the fire, some were in other parts of the state. those aircraft with hundreds of ground crews and firefighting vehicles in a combination of firefighting effort. what we are doing to suppress the fire on the edge before the wind changes. a lot of hard work today and that continues through the night. the aircraft are on the ground but the firefighters on the ground continue. firefighters on the ground continue-— firefighters on the ground continue. , ., , ., continue. does warnings for --eole continue. does warnings for peeple in — continue. does warnings for people in rural— continue. does warnings forl people in rural communities, continue. does warnings for - people in rural communities, do you think there will be heeded? it is the last thing people want to do, leave their homes.

that is right. this fire has now been burning for over one week, the communities in that area have been tuned and there has been a lot of town hall meetings in local community centres where people have been briefed on the circumstances and to watch for the warnings to come through. we are hoping that all the community in those areas have had plenty of time to plan and know what they are doing and are taking appropriate action. gary, we will let you _ appropriate action. gary, we will let you get _ appropriate action. gary, we will let you get back - appropriate action. gary, we will let you get back to - appropriate action. gary, we will let you get back to your| will let you get back to your job. thank you forjoining us from victoria. five journalists have been killed after their vehicle was hit by an israeli strike outside a hospital in central gaza, according to the local health authorities. it's understood one of the men had been expecting the birth of his child. the israeli military called those killed members of what said was a "terrorist cell". 0ur correspondent, emir nader is injersualem. he told us more about the incident.

al-quds today, tv channel that is the local tv channel in the gaza strip announced this morning that five journalists have been killed in an israeli air strike on their tv broadcast van whilst it parked outside a hospital in the nuseirat area of central gaza. we understand that among the five journalists was a young man who was understood to be waiting for his wife to give birth to their child inside the hospital, when he and his colleagues were struck by the air strike. we saw a video taken in the hours before of him in his press jacket telling the camera that in a few hours he would be a father. we had a statement in the early hours of the morning from the israeli military who said they were targeting what they said was an islamic jihad terrorist cell.

islamichhad are one of the other militant groups in gaza and took part in the october 7th attacks which led to the start of the current war. quds today, a local tv channel is known to be affiliated with islamichhad, the journalists were known to the journalist community in gaza as regularly out and reporting on events there. living and working from that van they were in when it was hit. we have had a statement from the committee to protectjournalists this morning who said they were devastated by the report and said thatjournalists are civilians and must be protected. this comes as we have seen numerous reports over the past years of the war where journalists have been regularly killed.

the committee last week said that over 140 journalists had been killed in gaza over the course of the war and we have seen repeated incidents where the israeli military has identified journalists as having what they say terrorist affiliations and have been struck and subsequently hit. and in syria, the authorities say ia members of their forces have been killed and ten others injured in clashes with members of the ousted former leader bashar al—assad's alawite group. let's speak to dr leon goldsmith, senior lecturer in middle eastern and comparative politics at the university of 0tago in new zealand. good evening. thank you for staying up to talk to us. how

concerning do you find these attacks on members of the new administration? i attacks on members of the new administration?— administration? i was definitely... - administration? iwas definitely... of- administration? iwas definitely... of great| administration? i was - definitely... of great concern. definitely... of great concern. first of all this is a high level of anxiety throughout the north—western part of the country, it was an area that we thought could be very conflicted with the falling of the regime. the process of disentangling some of the worst regime perpetrators from the wider alawite set which is what they were trying to do arrest one of the officers, a very challenging time and very concerning, not necessarily symptomatic of a wider sectarian breakdown of stability at this point. because people are so aware of

the sectarian tensions that there might be an that have been suppressed over the decades, the fears are real that this change of leadership could provoke all those to flare up again. talking about the alawite set, in the past there was the thinking that alawite were loyal to bashar al—assad, that is not necessarily the case, is it? fit, necessarily the case, is it? lot of them will be coming disenfranchised with bashar al—assad even before the start of the revolution. but the way things unfolded during the civil war meant that the alawite felt the only stable way was to stay with the regime. it is telling, in the days immediately after the fall of the regime, the mausoleum which was the core of the family power was burnt to the ground and there were no

protests by the alawite around the coast of the country. there was a desecration of one of the religious sites around aleppo, whether or not that video is new or old... this was an attack on their core identity, not so much loyal to the assad but their identity as alawite which they feel is potentially under threat with the new regime. under threat with the new re . ime. ., under threat with the new reaime. ., i. under threat with the new reaime. ., , regime. could you give us your thou~ht regime. could you give us your thought on _ regime. could you give us your thought on how _ regime. could you give us your thought on how optimistic - regime. could you give us your thought on how optimistic or . thought on how optimistic or otherwise you are about syria going into 2025, after the events of the last few weeks, so tortuous. the prospects you think of peace in syria. i thought it was very encouraging, we are seeing a lot of these multi—faith dialogues and if we focus on the actual community leaders and different communities,

there is a willingness to turn there is a willingness to turn the page. i think what we are seeing is the last gasp of the regime, the worst perpetrators who know there is no escape so they are going to face justice so they will fight the bitter end. whether or not they will trigger a wider sectarian tensions or conflict is to be seen. let's hope it is not case. . ~' seen. let's hope it is not case. . ~ , ., around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

witnesses reported hearing an explosion, and the fuselage shows what could be bullet holes. the kremlin says is wrong to speculate on the cause. boxing day's traditional round of the fixtures in the premier league starts with manchester city hoping that christmas marks a turning point against everton at the etihad. the champions form makes grim reading. one win in 12 games has seen them slump to seventh in the table. pep guardiola questioning both himself and now their chances of even making the champions league. definitely, yeah, we have to get points and win games otherwise we are not going to qualify for the champions league. if you don't qualify, it is because we don't deserve it. we were not prepared because we had a lot

of problems and we did not solve those problems and find a way, you know, to win games. of course, there are a lot of contenders to there, for every club you know, it is so important right now. we are out, and if we are not winning games, we will be out. that's the first game of the day then. later, leaders liverpool play fourth from bottom leicester as they protect a four—point lead to chelsea who take on fulham. newcastle and aston villa are fighting for a european place. while southampton�*s new manager ivan juric takes charge for the first time. and vitor pereira, the second, in wolves' match against manchester united. there's also a boxing day tradition in cricket with australia hosting a test match at the mcg. their series with india is level at 1—1 with the fourth test of five under way in melbourne. australia's 19—year—old debutant sam konstas made the biggest impression on day one, the youngest test batting debutant for the men's team since 1953 hitting 60 offjust 65 balls. half centuries from usman khawaja and marnus labuschagne followed. but india hit back in the final session, jasprit bumrah taking two quick wickets as the home side finished the day on 311—6.

that's one of two boxing day tests. the other is in centurion, with south africa winning the toss and putting pakistan into bat in the first of two matches. dane paterson and corbin bosch have taken two wickets each with the tourists 88—4 at lunch. as much a story about who was televising it or rather streaming it than the games themselves but the nfl�*s christmas day games provided two lopsided wins. but a historic moment nonetheless for two of the sport's most famous players in a win over the pittsburgh steelers that secured the kansas city chiefs the number one seed for the afc playoffs. travis kelce became only the third tight end to pass the 1,000 receptions mark while he also notched up a franchise record 77th touchdown. the chiefs are now 15 and one and will have home field advantage throughout the postseason.

while the baltimore ravens also had a comfortable win over the houston texans with lamarjackson scoring three touchdowns, one with his legs, for a quarterback. remember, their mainjob is to throw the ball, not run. the previous mark took michael vick 13 seasons to reach. jackson has beaten it din less than seven the nba also had games on december 25th with lebron james saying that he "loves the nfl but christmas is our day" in the wake of the lakers' dramatic win over the golden state warriors. james was playing in an nba—record 19th christmas day game and the league's all—time points scorer led the lakers with 31 points and ten rebounds after losing anthony davis to injury. long—time adversary steph curry did everything he could to spoiljames' day with two clutch three pointers as the game drew to a close, tying things up with six seconds remaining as part of his 38 points. but la's austin reaves put the lakers back in front and even curry was unable

to conjure a winning three from there. lakers winning115—113. while lebron was playing his 19th game at this time of year, victor wembanyama was playing in his first. it clearly suited him as he finished with 42 points — a record for the spurs on christmas day. unfortunately for wembanyama it wasn't enough to secure the win as mikal bridges scored 41 for the new york knicks as they beat san antonio 117 to 114 for their fifth win in a row. and that's all the sport for now. here in the uk, millions of shoppers will be seeking bargains in the boxing day sales today, although some major chains — including next, john lewis and aldi — will remain closed. retail forecasters are also predicting a 7% increase in online spending. 0ur reporter david waddell is at oxford street. he told us more about the

boxing day sales are going... you find me outside selfridges, right here. this is one of london's most prominent department stores on one of the most famous streets, notjust in london, but in the country that's oxford street. and of course, london's a big hub for shopping, notjust in the uk and in the south east of this country, but there are many international visitors to the uk also who will congregate here and do their shopping. but the challenge here for this city, on this street, there are several shops in addition to those that are open like this and zara and primark. further further down the street there are several closed further down the street. here we have marks & spencer, one of the uk's biggest shopping chains. it's closed entirely today. john lewis is closed for the most part and another big company called next has closed all its stores up and down the country today. they say to give their staff an extra festive day off. but there may be another reason, too.

and that is because more and more shopping is moving online. all around the world — millions have been — or still are — celebrating christmas. there's been a whole lot of presents — and no small amount of revelry. the bbc�*s tim allman looks at how some people enjoyed the festivities. while many were stuffing their faces with as much food as they could manage, on the south coast of england, others were doing this. it turned out to be a fairly mild christmas round these parts, so this dip in the sea in brighton could have been a lot worse. there's a similar tradition that takes place every year in berlin, where it wasjust a little bit cooler. it didn't seem to deter anyone, though. "you come out, you're totally euphoric," said this swimmer. "you've done it. "you were so crazy and you did it.

"and the rest of the day afterwards. "you're so happy. "you're so cheerful. "you have so much vigour." not every christmas goes according to plan, of course. a group of skiers found themselves stuck on a chairlift in the french alps during the festive period. emergency workers eventually managing to get everyone down safely. ah, voila! for some, this can be a lonely time of year. that's why every christmas, this charity in paris organises a special festive lunch for those who are by themselves. translation: the solidarity meal is open to all. - in france, one person in ten is isolated, so we've put out a call for volunteers so that people who are isolated can celebrate christmas and have a good meal. 'twas the night before christmas when all through thames house. not a creature was stirring. just the click of a mouse. almost everyone seemed to be celebrating, including spooks and spies.

britain's m15 posted this video on its official instagram account. it's a specially adapted version of the poem a visit from saint nicholas, read by the actor gary oldman, who plays a spy himself in the hit tv show slow horses. no horses, but plenty of other animals at this zoo in perth, lions, hyaenas and monkeys being given some festive treats. proof, if proof were needed that christmas really is for everyone. tim allman, bbc news. whatever you're doing this boxing day we will be back with more news. for now. hello again. it's been an exceptionally mild christmas period thus far. yesterday, christmas

day, it reached 14.2 celsius in aberdeen. the average december temperature here would be around about seven celsius. but how long is this going to last? well, you can see the days of the week here. the yellows and ambers representing the milder conditions. and it stays with us right the way through to the weekend, except for across northern scotland, where we see something that bit colder coming our way with some wintry showers here by the end of the weekend. beyond that, low pressure pulls away. you can see an array of isobars, it will be windy at times. and then as we head up towards the new year, look at the array of isobars and wet weather, potentially some snow as well, so it's something worth keeping an eye on if you are travelling around new year. today, though, remaining mild and still cloudy, cloudy and murky. there's some drizzle, there's some hill fog, there's some dank conditions. we've also got rain moving across central scotland and northern ireland. best chance of any brightness today will be across parts of eastern england and also northeast wales. temperatures eight to about 12 degrees. now, heading on through

the evening and overnight, our band of rain across central scotland and northern ireland pushes steadily northwards, leaving us again with a lot of cloud, dank conditions, where we see holes break in that cloud, so under clear skies we could also see some fog patches form. but for the time of year it's not going to be cold. our overnight lows — five to nine degrees. into tomorrow, then, our weather front pushes northwards. but it is a waving front so it is going to come back southwards again. so friday — a lot of cloud around. a weather front in the northwest producing some patchy rain. best breaks tomorrow for brightness, north—east scotland, parts of eastern england and also once again north—east wales. temperatures eight to 12 degrees. now beyond that, as we head on into the weekend, our weather front does continue to sink southwards across scotland and northern ireland. we've got another part of it coming in from the west. a lot of cloud around.

but through central parts of england and wales we should see some more in the way of brightness with highs up to about 11. it continues mild as we head towards the new year, but don't forget to keep in touch with the forecast because it's looking unsettled then.

now on bbc news — a look back at some

of the biggest stories of the year. so this is it, - a general election. thank you to everybody and goodnight. we did it! cheering. will it ever get better than this again? - iranian missiles were fired in the last 20 minutes or so. this is just unprecedented, i mean, people are picking up mud, throwing it at the king. look what happened! is this crazy? cheering. 2024, a year where around the world an often fragile

peace was shaken — regimes were overthrown,